09/18/98: Robert Kovak, 24, Blacksburg, VA

Robert Kovak

The remains of Robert Kovak have been found. See update below.

Robert Kovak grew up in rural Rivesville, West Virginia, a rural coal mining town in the northern part of the state, home to roughly 900 people. He was described as modest, detail-oriented, dedicated to getting things done, friendly and likable.

Kovak was a 1991 graduate of Fairmont Senior High School. He received his undergraduate degree at Fairmont State University near his home in Rivesville, then was accepted into the architecture graduate program at Virginia Tech. It was his first experience at a large university and he rose to the top of his class. He enjoyed living in Blacksburg, where he was close enough to ride his bike to class or to drive home to visit family. He and his brother Michael were just one year apart and always very close. They got together as frequently as they could, especially in the summer when school was out.

On Friday, September 18, 1998, Kovak's mother, Jacqueline Kovack, tried to call him repeatedly, but he wasn't home. After several more tries on Saturday and Sunday with no result and no call back, she became very worried.

Kovak's roommates said they seen him packing clothing earlier in the day. They thought maybe he planned to attend a West Virginia University football game on Saturday. Now his blue laundry hamper was gone, so they assumed he had heading home for the weekend. They estimated he must have left around 5 p.m. He never arrived.

Authorities retrace Kovak's steps

9/18/98  4:30 p.m. - Kovak is positively identified getting gas at the Wilco station on 825 N. Main Street in Blacksburg. He speaks briefly with the gas station attendant, saying he is on his way home to visit friends. He paid for his gas with a check, then took off in his red Geo Tracker, traveling up Progress Street toward his Terrace View apartment.(1) His vehicle is found abandoned four days later.

9/18/98  5:21 p.m.  - Video surveillance captures Kovak withdrawing $80 from an ATM at the Freedom First Credit Union on South Main Street in Blacksburg.

9/18/98  5:45 p.m. - A fellow architecture student sees Kovak in Cowgill Hall as he steps onto the elevator at the second floor. He has on blue jeans and a polo shirt. She describes him as looking exhausted, with "bags under his puffy eyes." He had also shaved his beard, something that, to her, made him appear heavier. He asks how she is doing, but nothing further, then she exits onto the third floor. She was supposed to see Rob later that night at a party, but she heard through mutual friends that he would not be there. If her timing is accurate, this may be the last sighting of Robert Kovack.

9/19/98 4:30 a.m. - Kovak's very good friend from college, Jason Yoho, who was also from Rivesville, drove the same route Kovak was supposed to have taken, only 12 hours later. He told investigators he did not recall a vehicle parked where Rob's Tracker was found, and he could not recall a vehicle being there on his way back on Sunday.

9/19/98  8:00 - 9:00 a.m. - A married couple from Morgantown, WV stops at the Gorge Bridge from 8 to 9 a.m. while traveling to Myrtle Beach, SC. The couple tells police that they always notice vehicles parked on the side of the road, but they did not see a red Tracker.

9/20/98 - Jason Yoho does not recall seeing a vehicle parked on the side of the road on his way home on Sunday.

Kovak's Geo Tracker, similar to this one,
was found at the intersection of US Route 19
and Lansing Road near Fayetteville, West Virginia,
 just beyond the New River Gorge Bridge.

9/22/98 - Kovak's red soft-top 1992 Geo Tracker is found abandoned and out of gas near Fayetteville, West Virginia, just a half mile past a gas station. The keys are not in the ignition and the doors are locked. There were no signs of a struggle or foul play. Oddly, the 4-wheel drive in engaged, despite mild weather.

The vehicle was operational, but it looked dusty. It had also been broken into. A slit had been cut into the soft-top canvas in order to unlock the passenger door. An amp had been taken from the rear cargo area and likely also the hamper Robert had last been seen with. (A resident of Craig County later reported finding an empty blue clothes hamper, missing its lid, on her property, but it wasn't positively identified as Kovak's.) Police theorize that rafters on the New River noticed the abandoned vehicle and broke into it to steal from it. The crime lab found one partial latent fingerprint and one palm print they couldn't identify.

According to his father and brother, those so familiar with that stretch of road would gas up before reaching Fayetteville. They'd know the next station isn't for another 15 miles. It then seems odd that Kovak would bypass a gas station and risk potentially having to leave his beloved vehicle on the side of the road while he fetched gas. Kovak's Tracker was the first vehicle he had ever purchased himself. He was known for keeping it immaculate.

Michael Kovak has said he believes that something happened to his brother in Blacksburg. He told the Collegiate Times, "Where we grew up, you held your own or got picked on. He was small and scrawny, but he was scrappy." He added that his brother was "one of the nicest guys in the world, but if someone tried to pick a fight...he wouldn't shy away." He speculated that someone drove his car as far north as they could, using the 4-wheel drive so that the car would run out of gas quicker. The person wanted it to appear as though Kovak had run out of gas.


Search effort

Dog teams, whitewater rafters and National Park Service rangers helped in multiple searches of the vicinity of where Robert's car was found. Their searches included door-to-door visits to homes on Lansing Road and the Canyon Rim area. State police also conducted helicopter sweeps, and Rob's family and friends walked the area searching for clues. Nothing was found. The area is said to be an immense space near a national forest where search parties would have difficulty finding someone.

When investigators and family searched Robert Kovack's Terrace View apartment in Blacksburg, they discovered that his roommates had packed up nearly all of his things into boxes. They had also taken apart his bed before it was ever inspected, despite direct requests from the Kovak family to stay away. No architecture supplies were found, just a single pen and two stamps. But it seems most of his personal belongings were still in his room, such as his backpack, bike, unopened mail (including a bill for rent), shaving kit, toothbrush and toothpaste. So they may have been trying to save his family the heartache of packing up his belongings.


Remains found

New River Gorge Bridge
(See aerial video here.)

In March 2016, a work crew found skeletal human remains under the 800-feet tall New River Gorge Bridge near where Robert’s Geo Tracker was found abandoned. The area where the remains were found was treacherous and overgrown, an easy place to overlook a body.

DNA tests confirmed that the remains belonged to Robert Kovak. His wallet with his driver's license and student ID was also found near the remain, along with his car keys.

Evidence on the remains suggest that Kovack was hit by a car, then fell from the bridge.(3)  News reports are not saying whether the death was a hit and run, but it sounds like a logical possibility. The investigation is ongoing.

While Kovak did have $12,000 in credit card debt, police do not believe he committed suicide. The young man was nearing graduation and had been hired to work for Blackwood and Associates, an architecture firm in Richmond, VA, after graduation. He also had $1,500 in his bank account from his job as a teaching assistant at Virginia Tech and he was considered a happy-go-lucky guy.

He was hard working, but he was considered a happy-go-lucky guy. In his free time, he played softball, went mountain biking and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.



Case Details
Name/age: Robert Leroy Kovak, 24
Last seen: 9/18/98, Blacksburg, Virginia
Date Of Birth: October 30, 1973
Physical Description: White male, 6'3"; 175 lbs, dark brown hair; brown eyes, wearing
blue jeans and either polo shirt or T-shirt and watch on left wrist.

If you have any information, call the Blacksburg Police Department at 540-961-1150 or West Virginia State Police at 304-469-2915. Refer to the Agency Case Number (6210-10254)



Sources
(1) Fleming, Caleb. (7 March 2009). Decadelong disappearance. Retrieved September 9, 2010 from
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/13746/decadelong-disappearance

(2) Baker, K.C. (March 11, 2016). Family of Robert Kovack, Virginia Tech Grad Student Missing Since 1998, Waits Anxiously As Authorities Investigate Human Remains. Retrieved June 7, 2019 from https://people.com/crime/robert-kovacks-distraught-family-are-human-remains-connected-to-missing-son/

(3) Demmit, Jacob. (March 14, 2017). DNA confirms remains belong to Virginia Tech student missing since 1998. Retrieved June 7, 2019 from https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/blacksburg/dna-confirms-remains-belong-to-virginia-tech-student-missing-since/article_56a64b59-9fd0-506f-833e-bbfc3121047a.html

Published: 9/26/2010    Last updated: June 7, 2019

08/28/10: Khalil King, 19, Ithaca, NY

On the evening of Saturday, August 28, 2010, Khalil King, a 19-year-old from Cornell University was reported missing. King had last been seen at about 3 a.m. that morning while walking on the upper gorge trail near the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, also known as the "FIJI" fraternity. A friend said King saw something and ran west; he then lost contact with the sophomore. "Charlottenews14.com has reported the something spooked King before he ran off. Attempts to call or locate him throughout the day were unsuccessful," said Cornell Director of Press Relations Claudia Wheatley.

Approximately 30 people from multiple agencies--including members of the Cornell University Police Department, the Ithaca Police Department, New York State Police, the Ithaca Fire Department and Cornell Environmental Health and Safety--were involved in the search.

The Ithaca Fire Department and Cornell University police searched the area around where King was last seen, but because of darkness and the hazardous terrain, the search was suspended at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. The team resumed their search at 9 a.m. Sunday, joined by the Ithaca police, and staff from the Cornell Environmental Health and Safety department. The area east of the Stewart Avenue bridge above Ithaca Falls was searched, and a state police helicopter was also used.

On Sunday (8/29/10), emergency crews recovered a body lying in a deep pool of water in the south end of Fall Creek gorge. Police identified it as that of the missing student. The body was found between the pedestrian suspension bridge and Stewart Avenue Bridge near the 800 block of Stewart Avenue. Firefighters, and the Ithaca and Cornell police and Bangs Ambulance, carried the body out through the Willard Way tunnel, part of a former 19th century industrial water mill, shortly after 1:30 p.m.

No foul play is suspected, according to police. The Ithaca Police Department is continuing the investigation, and anyone with information is urged to contact them at 272-9973.


About Khalil King

On August 31, 2010, several hundred people attended a candlelight vigil commemorating the life of Khalil King.

The Cornell Daily Sun reported that "King’s mother came out and spoke of her son: 'my pride, my joy, my reason for breathing.'" She said, “a lot of questions are still not answered,” and that she “will never be satisfied until those questions are answered” by either “something from the Cornell community” or from the “divine hand of God.”

According to the Sun, "Throughout the night, filled with poems, letters and songs for King, a picture of him emerged as a gregarious, multi-talented thinker and doer, willing to cross the lines of social convention....Friend Felema Yemane, Class of 2014, recalled going to different places with King, including the Cornell Democrats, Cornell Republicans and a socialist organization, and recalled a time when the two spent “three hours discussing abortion” in Willard Straight Hall. King was “open to other people’s ideas and thoughts,” Yemane said."

King was described as being the kind of friend "who would do anything for you at the drop of a dime." His many friends enjoyed his magnetic, perhaps even a bit quirky, personality. He was described as an “amazing artist,” who had once made a landscape of Ithaca appearing in the eye of his self-portrait.

King had recently transferred from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

King was a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and a 2009 graduate of Independence High School.
Vice President Susan Murphy ’73 also spoke at the event, saying that the “best tribute we can give Khalil is to build those bridges across the communities he touched.”

She urged the crowd to “make sure you’re here for one another,” while admitting the difficulty of “trying to understand something that makes no sense.”

Police investigating third gorge death at Cornell University

The Ithaca Police Department is investigating the death of Cornell University engineering student Matthew Zika, who died near the suspension bridge over Fall Creek Gorge. According to the Cornell Daily Sun, "police first responded to Fall Creek Gorge at around 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon [March 12.] The IPD temporarily closed the suspension bridge and the Stewart Avenue Bridge after a motorist reported seeing a man drop from the suspension bridge. Other witnesses found an unattended jacket and backpack containing a wallet, cell phone and other personal possessions on the suspension bridge."

This incident follows two other student deaths in the Fall Creek Gorge---William Sinclair on March 10 and Bradley Ginsberg on February 17. On March 22, CNN.com reported that the causes of all three deaths were determined to be suicide, bringing the total number to six for the academic year for Cornell, which CNN described as a "highly competitive Ivy League school."

Monitors have been temporarily placed at all bridges at Cornell University 24-7 and has plans to put up taller fences to act as a deterrent. They are also making students more aware of student support services.

03/11/10: William Sinclair, 19, Ithaca, NY

On March 11, 2010, rescue workers from the Ithaca Fire Department recovered the body of William Sinclair, a sophomore mechnical engineering student in the College of Engineering, from the Fall Creek Gorge near the Thurston Avenue Bridge.

He was 19 years old and a native of Chevy Chase, MD.

2/17/10: Bradley Ginsburg, 18, Ithaca, NY

Bradley Ginsburg, 18, a student at Cornell College in Ithaca was last seen by his roommate early Tuesday, February 17, 2010. He was reported missing later that night, according to the university. Ginsburg was an economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences, a new member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, and a resident of Mary Donlon Hall. The following day, his body was recovered from the Fall Creek Gorge. According a 3/16/10 article by ABC News, Cornell officials said the young man's death was ruled a suicide.

On March 22, Bradley's parents told CNN.com that they were not convinced that Bradley's death was a suicide, saying that Bradley, who was nicknamed "Smiles" by his fraternity brothers, was always happy and continuously smiling. He was a straight-A student, who loved college, showed no signs of stress, and called them daily. His mother Sherry Ginsburg said, "Nobody can believe that one of the happiest people that they knew, would ever do anything like that; and that's what's hurting--besides not having him--that's what's hurting me the most."

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bradley's family and friends; he will be sorely missed.

03/12/10: Matthew Zika, 21, Ithaca, NY

On March 12, 2010, the Ithaca Police Department began investigating the death of Cornell University engineering student Matthew Zika, who died near the suspension bridge over Fall Creek Gorge. According to the Cornell Daily Sun, "police first responded to Fall Creek Gorge at around 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon [March 12.] The IPD temporarily closed the suspension bridge and the Stewart Avenue Bridge after a motorist reported seeing a man drop from the suspension bridge. Other witnesses found an unattended jacket and backpack containing a wallet, cell phone and other personal possessions on the suspension bridge."

On March 22, CNN.com reported that the death had been ruled a suicide. Zika's tragic death gained much attention because it occurred the day after another engineering student, William Sinclair, committed suicide in the same gorge. The previous month, Bradley Ginsburg's body was also recovered from the gorge, and later ruled a suicide. (Ginsburg's parents told CNN.com, they are not convinced their son would have harmed himself.)

About Matthew Zika
On a memorial Facebook group, Matthew Zika's friends describe him as "a quiet, sweet guy" who enjoyed movies, baseball, and was funny, smart and talented.  "I could tell he was a great guy from the minute I met him," said one friend. "Just one of those people that you could be friends with right away." He once gave another friend this bit of advice, "My hope in living life is that if one day someone told me it would be my last, I could smile and nod knowing full well that I did all I could with the time I was given. Only put off until tomorrow what you'd be okay with never having done."

Matthew Zika's obituary, published in the Ithaca Journal on March 23, 2010, reads:

WEST LAFAYETTE - Matthew C. Zika, 21, of West Lafayette, died Friday, March 12, 2010, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Born January 23, 1989 in Lafayette, he was the only child of Charles J. "Chip" Zika of West Lafayette and Brenda Thompson Zika of Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Matt graduated from Wm Henry Harrison High School, West Lafayette, Indiana in May 2007 where he was a member of the National Honor Society, won numerous writing awards, and earned a perfect ACT score. Matt enjoyed being a member of the Harrison Swim Team and was a star on the Raider's varsity baseball team - holding hitting records that still stand. He played in the Colt World Series for two seasons with Hoosier North and was a member of the Red Storm travel team. A junior at Cornell University, Matt was an Operations Research major in the College of Engineering where he was an Irwin and Joan Jacobs Scholar. He was scheduled to finish a year early and graduate this May. Matt had accepted a position with a healthcare software company in Wisconsin. Matt was employed as a student manager at Cornell's Robert Purcell Community Center Dining. He also worked as a seasonal engineering technician with the City of Ithaca, Department of Public Works. During his freshman and sophomore years at Cornell, Matt was proud to serve as a volunteer firefighter for the Cayuga Heights Fire Department.

Surviving with his parents are maternal grandparents Carroll W. and Mary Lou Thompson of Parkersburg, West Virginia; two aunts, Joyce Cooper (husband, Daniel) of Belpre, Ohio and Susan Warmsby (husband, Victor) of Atlanta, Georgia; three uncles, David Thompson (wife, Renee) of Gilbert, Arizona, Brian Thompson of Diana, West Virginia, and John Zika (wife, Karen) of Statesville, North Carolina.

Also surviving are nine cousins. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Charles A. and Elizabeth Zika of Western Springs, Illinois; and his aunt and uncle, Dr. Edwin and Rosemary "Rosie" (Zika) Williams of Ada, Ohio.

Memorial visitation 5-8 p.m. Saturday, March 27, 2010, at Hippensteel Funeral Home. Services at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, March 28, 2010, at University Plaza Hotel, Grand Ballroom, West Lafayette. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Harrison High School for the Matthew Zika Memorial Scholarship Fund, 5701 North 50 West, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906.

Hippensteel Funeral Service entrusted with care. Share memories and condolences online at www.hippensteelfuneralservice.com

04/24/05: Dan Pirfo, 19, Ithaca, NY

Dan Pirfo, a 19 year old Cornell University student in Ithaca, NY, was reported missing at 1 AM Monday, April 26, 2005 by his roommate, Sean Clemens and other friends from his floor in Mews Hall. He has reportedly been drinking Saturday night and was last seen in the early morning Sunday hours in a friend's dorm room on Farm Drive. His body was found May 10, 2005 at the base of the Ithaca Falls in Fall Creek gorge.
--------------------------
Timeline
Clemens said he last saw Pirfo at around 3:10 a.m. Sunday morning: "I told him I was going to bed and he said he'd be back." [This has also been reported as 3:30 a.m.] Records show that he re-entered the dormitory at at approximately 4:30 a.m. The last confirmed sighting of Pirfo was in another friend's room in Mews Hall at about 4:45 a.m. An unconfirmed sighting put him in the student lounge at 9 AM Sunday morning. Pirfo had reportedly been drinking Saturday night.

The Search
Friends and dorm residents created fliers, constructed a Web site and sent out e-mail in an effort to locate Pirfo. Ithaca Police reported 32 volunteers combing the area for Pirfo. Cornell Police, along with the Ithaca PD and the NY State Police helicopter conducted a search of the campus buildings and grounds, along with the river gorge that cuts through the campus. "They've been searching around the North campus residence halls and the grounds around the north campus residence," said Simeon Moss, director of the Cornell press office. "The Ithaca Police Department is actually coordinating that search." New York State Park Police helped coordinate the search from the Cayuga Heights Fire Department Wednesday. On Wednesday 4/27/05, K9s were brought in from Western NY Search Dogs, and Cayuga County SAR to assist with building searches and a search of Lake Beebe. No alerts were recorded and both the buildings and the lake were cleared. No further K9 assistance was requested. Students did perform a search of the grounds, and a continued investigation by LE did not turn up any new leads.

Recovery
On Tuesday, May 10th, three men fishing in Fall Creek Gorge, discovered a body at the base of the falls. The body was later identified as Pirfo. According to IPD Lt. Timothy Williams, injuries found on Pirfo's body are consistent with a fall into the gorge. His death has been ruled accidental, Williams said Thursday.

Sources
http://www.nysfedsar.org/FedNews2005.html
Photo from: http://cornell.elliottback.com/where-is-dan-pirfo

Facts of Interest in This Case
Name/age: Dan Pirfo, 19
College: Cornell University
Physical Description: white male, 5'8," 160 pounds, brown hair brown eyes wearing a black dress shirt and khaki pants
Last Seen: 04/24/05 4:45 am, Mews Hall
Recovered: 05/10/05 the base of Ithaca Falls on Fall Creek near campus
Cause of death ruling: unknown
Manner of death ruling: accidental

Post last updated: 8/2/09